


Fault in Time

by Finedust356



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Hurt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-08-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:48:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25707682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Finedust356/pseuds/Finedust356
Summary: Our past is our memories, our future will be our memories one day.Memories can be remembered, memories can be forgotten, memories can be erased.It’s my memory of you that I hold close during the night, that lets me see you, lets me remember the past that I forgot and lets me hope for the future that will be.You are not alone, I will come for you, I will find you.
Kudos: 2





	1. A locked room

**Author's Note:**

> No matter what happens.... some memories can never be replaced.....

8 o’clock. It was a bit too early for Wonho to be in the café in front of the Seoul National university. Grabbing the iced americano that he had ordered earlier he made his way towards the university, running a hand through his brown hair trying to make it look decent for the day.

Wonho, Shin Hoseok was the youngest associate professor in the university. He was still only 24 to say the least and he found it really tiring as no one was willing to take him seriously. Not the professors and definitely not the students. The only professor who cared about what he says was Professor Chae, the professor in Physics under whom he had been a student and is now his teaching assistant.

Wonho felt a smile on his lips as he remembered how he spent most his weekday with the professor going through his research work. Professor Chae always treated him like a son. But he felt sad since today the good professor was retiring.

His thoughts were interrupted when he arrived at the door to the professors’ room. He entered with a smile.

“Good morning, professor.”, Wonho greeted. “Ah, good morning Hoseok-ah. You’re early today.” Said professor Chae with a chuckle.

“Yes, I wanted to meet you before the first lecture.” , Wonho replied, “Its about Changkyun’s request to enter the research program.”

“I saw the request letter. But you know Hoseok-ah, I stopped the research with a reason and I won’t be able to help him with it.” Said professor Chae with a sigh. “Actually, I want to give you something. I thought about this for a while before deciding. I am going to give all my research material to you Hoseok. I want you to continue the research.”

“Sir! But how can I continue your research like that? You spent most of your working years on that research. How can I …. I can’t. I don’t think I will be able to do much.” Wonho replied shocked at the sudden decision.

“No, Hoseok-ah. You are the best one of my students and the youngest to become an associate professor. Also, I trust you. You are intelligent and like a son to me. You are perfect to continue with this dangerous work.” The professor said standing up from his chair. He walked over to where Wonho was standing. “All the material is in the basement of my house. I turned it into a lab. You and your friends already want to rent the place so its better if you do this. Also do not tell anyone that you are continuing the research or even that you are doing the research. Not even your friends.” He said in a low voice.

To say that Wonho was shocked was an understatement. “You know, ask Changkyun to try to get into another research team. But that kid is a genius. He might be able to help you. If he is willing to keep the secret let him help you. After all you will live together, its easier.” The professor said going towards the door. Wonho followed behind.

The pair walked in silence towards the lecture hall. Once they reached the lecture hall, professor Chae sighed “This is the last lecture in my time here.” 

“You taught us a lot sir.” Wonho replied with a smile. Both of them went into the lecture hall for the lecture.

********************************************************************************************************

Professor Chae was retiring and he wanted to move back to Gwangju with his wife. Wonho met the professor when he had started his Masters in Physics. The professor was very kind and had taken a liking to Wonho. He treated him like a son. So did Madam Chae. When the professor said he was retiring and moving, Wonho had been sad. Madam Chae had an idea to let Wonho and his roommate Jooheon to come live at the house since she didn’t want the house to be sold. It had taken some banter to let the professor and his wife to agree to rent it rather than just give it for free. Neither Wonho nor Jooheon wanted to just take what was given, rather they wanted to let it be rented. So, they had talked with their other friends to come together and rent the place as it was spacious. In the end along with Wonho and Jooheon their friends Kihyun, Shownu, Minhyuk and Changkyun wee coming to live at the house. It was easier to live together as it saved most of their money for rent on the places they were currently staying.

Today the couple were leaving for Gwangju. Wonho and his friends had gathered to help them with the moving.

“Hoseok-ah, we are leaving almost all of the furniture here for you kids. Just get some more beds for yourselves.” Said Madam Chae as she handed the house keys to Wonho. “Stay safe my children.” She hugged everyone of them. After exchanging a few words, the couple departed.

Minhyuk was the first to break the silence that followed. “let’s go check how many beds we will need.” And went into the house as the others followed.

“We can put two beds in the master bedroom. And there is already one bed in the guest room.” Said Kihyun as he sat on the bed in the guest room. “we have the bunk bed in our apartment, since we bought it from home.” Said Changkyun. “Yeah, so me you and someone else can be in this room.” Minhyuk commented. “I wanna room with Kyunnie!” Jooheon jumped on the bed. “don’t break the bed kid.” Scowled Kihyun. “I’ll take the master bedroom with Shownu hyung.” He said.

“You might want to get him out of bed to help you with moving the stuff then. He is sleeping in the master bedroom.” Wonho sad entering the room. “Hyung where are you going to stay?” Changkyun inquired. “there is another room on the first floor. But it’s still locked. I’ll stay there.” Wonho said “lets get our stuff over then.”

Everyone was busy with settling in. Wonho went up to the first floor to the room he had chosen. He checked the keys he was given earlier to find the right key and opened the door.

There in the room was fully furnished. There was a bed with light grey bed sheets and blankets. The table near the window was filled with books as were the shelves covering the wall above the bed. Wonho went to the cupboard and opened it. “What the hell!” he exclaimed. Inside the cupboard were clothes. He took some out to check. They would have fitted a slender person. “these might fit Minhyuk. But why are there clothes in here?” he thought.

“Hyung… what in the world” Changkyun came up to him and looked over at the cupboard. “Whose clothes are these?” he asked looking through the clothes. “Well I for one have no idea.” Wonho shook his head. “Did professor have a boarder here? Did he tell you about anything like that hyung?” Wonho sighed and shook his head. He knew the professor didn’t allow anyone into the house much. He himself had only visited only when invited to dinner by Madam Chae.

“We’ll put these clothes in a box and keep them somewhere.” Wonho said taking more clothes out of the cupboard and dumping them on the bed. “There is no use in telling the others. I’ll just clean up here and then join you to arrange the lounge area and the kitchen.” He said to Changkyun who nodded and went out of the room.

Wonho finished putting all the clothes in the cupboard into two boxes and arranged his clothes. He went to check the desk. There on the desk were a few books related to physics and some loose papers which looked like blueprints of sorts. He just put them aside to check at a leisurely pace. While going through the books he noticed something fallen on the ground. He picked it up and saw that it was a photo. There in the photo was the professor and his wife, but what caught Wonho’s eye was the figure between them. It looked like a young man but the features were blurred. The rest of the picture was clear except for the face of the man. Wonho turned the picture around to notice the writing behind it ‘ I will always be by your side.’ He replaced the picture and the loose papers inside a file and continued cleaning the room.

“There is a freaking play station in the living room!!!” Jooheon was shouting at the top of his lungs. Everyone gathered in the living room to see the two youngest going through the games on the PlayStation. “Wow, I didn’t know that the professor played games” Changkyun joked. “He doesn’t.” Wonho deadpanned. They watched the two play football as Kihyun and Shownu went about preparing dinner for everyone.

Wonho was lost in thought as he remembered the photo he had seen in the room. Maybe the games also belong to that person. But who was he? “ Why are you so familiar?” Wonho whispered. “What are you muttering about hyung?” Minhyuk asked lying on the floor at the foot of the couch. “Nothing Min.” he said and got up to help Shownu set the food on the coffee table.

********************************************************************************************

_Jooheon and Changkyun were playing Mario kart on the PlayStation. Shownu was sitting on the floor near Jooheon cheering him on as Kihyun was beside Changkyun. Wonho looked to his right to see Minhyuk clapping at the ongoing game._

_Something caught Wonho’s eye. There at the end of the couch was another person. He was slim and with a fringe that covered his face as he looked at the TV. Wonho continued looking at the person. Who was he? Just as Wonho was going to call out, the person turned to look at him. Bright brown eyes stared at Wonho. They looked sad, like if he was in pain. Wonho could not see anything else only those brown eyes as if they were looking right through his soul._

_*******************************************************************************************_

Wonho nearly fell out of the bed. He looked around to note that he was in his new bedroom. He was covered in sweat. He brought a hand to cover his eyes as he laid back on the bed. He remembered the brown eyes that he had seen. They looked so familiar. Like he had looked at those eyes so many times. But he was so very sure that he didn’t know the person.

It was a new day. He got up to go wash up. He could hear someone probably Kihyun working in the kitchen as he mad his way to the bathroom.

“Hyung you look like shit.” Changkyun commented seeing Wonho coming in to the kitchen. “Language, Kyun.” Scowled Kihyun. “Its nothing.” Wonho said grabbing a bowl of rice from Shownu. “ Where are Minhyuk and Jooheon?” he asked. “ They left early. Jooheon has a project proposal to hand over today. And Min went to buy new art supplies.” Shownu stated. “I am staying home today. Have some work to do.” Wonho said as he cleaned his plate and headed towards the room that was considered the study.

Inside was a board with some of the professor’s research. Wonho began to go through it. But one thing he could not forget was the eyes that haunted his dream and the familiarity he felt seeing them.


	2. The photo album

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ...................because every picture tells a story..................

It had taken nearly five hours for Wonho to go through the research material. He had already heard about the professor’s research while he was studying for his Master’s. But the professor had stopped his research sometime during the beginning of the year. What Wonho didn’t know was what the research was about. Reading through the first few pages, he was amazed. “He was trying to build a freaking time machine!” Wonho exclaimed when he finished reading through everything.

The professor wanted him to continue the research. “But the research is complete. If based on this we do build a time machine, then we will be able to time travel.” He added looking through the blueprints to what looked to be a watch. As Wonho examined the blueprints more carefully he noted that some parts of it were missing. He continued his search through the files in the room.

********************************************************************************************************

The front door opening and the shout of I’m back was what made Wonho get out of the study. He went into the living room to see Changkyun flopped on the couch. “Where is everyone?” he asked. “ Shownu hyung is at work and so is Minhyuk. Kihyun is at the university.” Wonho replied. “ wasn’t Jooheon supposed to come with you?” he asked. Changkyun shook his head, “ he said he will come back with Kihyun hyung. Said he wanted to buy a new set of blankets.”

Wonho realized that he had not eaten anything since breakfast. He made his way to the kitchen. “Kunkungie do you want ramyeon?” he asked. “Sure hyung.” Changkyun said coming to sit at the side of the table watching Wonho make two cups of instant ramyeon.

“So hyung, what did you do today?” Changkyun asked in between mouthfuls of noodles. Wonho swallowed his mouthful “ I was going through the professor’s research.”. “Professor gave you his research?!” Changkyun almost chocked. Wonho nodded, “ Its supposed to be a secret. You can’t tell anyone. I’ll let you help me with it but no one can know.” Changkyun nodded like an eager puppy. “Then finish your food, change your clothes and come down to the study.” Wonho said leaving Changkyun stuffing his face.

********************************************************************************************************

“Hyung…. This part is not complete.” Changkyun said pointing to some parts of the blueprints. “ If you put these three together, then we can complete it.” Wonho showed another three blueprints which he put together on the table for them to examine. “theoretically it should be able to let the user travel in time.” He said.

They continued examining the blueprints with Changkyun taking notes on a few places. “hyung there are a few changes that we might have to do. I wrote them down. After correcting these, we might be able to build a watch.” He said handing over the notes to Wonho. They came to the mutual agreement to start work on the next day itself.

They continued to work until they heard the others returning. Kihyun had bought groceries and was putting them away when Wonho and Changkyun came into the kitchen. “Jooheon is cleaning his room. Changkyun try to clean the closet. Wonho hyung can you help Minhyuk move his boxes to his room. Shownu hyung stop sitting there and help me with cooking dinner.” Kihyun ordered everyone. Everyone scattered to do the work they were appointed to.

The closet was not very large and had a few boxes lining the corner. Changkyun cleaned out the space for them to hang their coats and caps as well as the cupboard to put shoes in before moving a box out into the living room. He bought the box to the couch and set it on the floor. Opening it he came across several watches. “ These must be from the professor’s work.” He thought taking a watch with several knobs and the dial displayed years. The watch had missed the hands and was cracked, so were most of the watches. Each and every watch was of the same design but some parts were missing or broken in each. He put all the watches back in the box and took the box in to the study room.

Changkyun took out another smaller box from the closet before returning to the couch. He could hear Minhyuk singing from somewhere in the hallway and the smell of food wafting from the kitchen. He opened the box to see what was inside. There was the following, a phone, a photo album, a watch and a diary. Changkyun checked the phone to see that it was not charged. Next he took out the watch. It was similar to the ones in the other box but behind the watch was written ‘in case of emergency only’. He put the watch back in and took out the photo album.

Changkyun flipped through the album. All the photos were blurred. They contained a young man, tall and slim in almost all photos. Some photos had the professor and his wife in them as well, but in those photos also the young man was blurred. There were photos in an amusement park, one that Changkyun himself had visited some years ago. Some had pictures of the university. There was a photo of the young man during a graduation. The professor and his wife were also in the photo. But Changkyun didn’t know who the young man was. There were dates written on some photos while some had little quotes written on them.

What brought Changkyun to be alarmed was the very last photo in the album. It was a photo which had all six of them. Shownu, Wonho, Minhyuk, Kihyun, Jooheon and himself were in the photo. But they were not alone, the young man in the other photos was also there standing at a side. They were all smiling at the camera. It was a selfie. It was when they had gone to the karaoke. Now Changkyun was scared, because he could remember the exact date that they went to the karaoke and the date on the back of the photo matched with it. He could remember taking such a photo as well but what he could not remember who the young man in the photo was and how he was there in the first place. He remembered going to the karaoke with the others, but the young man was not there with them, he could swear by it. He remembered that he was the one to take the photo but whose phone had he used at that time?

Behind the photo was a single sentence; thank you for being with me.

Changkyun couldn’t decide what he had just seen. He wanted to ask from someone but who to ask. He put the photo back in the album and put all the stuff back in the box. He went to his room and seeing that no one was there he hid the box on the top bunk next to his pillow. He will read the diary later and uncover who the young man was. He was familiar to Changkyun, as if he had known him once. He let the matter rest until later. Maybe he could ask Wonho hyung if the professor had a nephew that he knew. Maybe that was the case. He went to the kitchen to have dinner with the others wondering about the photo and the young man.

*************************************************************************************************************

“what is the status with the watches?” asked a voice in the corner of the room. A man in a formal suit stepped forward with a file and placed on the table in the middle of the room. “ Time travel has been enabled but there as been a placement of gap time.” He stated looking to the left of the room to where the voice was from. A man in a grey suit stepped out of the shadows. “ We have to get the gap time fixed to catch that little traveler.” He said gesturing for more people in formal suits to step forward. “ Get me the builder. Make use of the gap time. When the gap time is coming to an end, bring him here.” He said dismissing the group. 

Three men in formal suits took out identical watches and activated them to disappear from the room. “ Just wait a bit, I’ll use what you care so much about against you.” The man in the grey suit cackcled.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first work. Please excuse any mistakes and it might not be good.
> 
> Please leave comments and suggestions are very welcome.


End file.
